FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 7, 2022
Illinois Manufacturers’ Association Announces Second Annual Lynne Mohr Memorial Bike Ride
Ride Will Raise Funds for Students Pursuing Careers in Skilled Trades and Manufacturing
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Manufacturers’ Association (IMA) is proud to announce the second annual Lynne Mohr Memorial Bike Ride, which will raise funds to support students pursuing careers in the skilled trades and manufacturing. This year, the ride will take place from July 9-17 across the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Named in honor of former Brite-O-Matic Manufacturing, Inc. President Lynne Mohr, who died in 2020 from complications from liver cancer, the fundraising bike ride will be completed by Mohr’s cousin, George Maurer, a Minneapolis-based musician and adventure bicyclist. Mohr worked at Brite-O-Matic, the specialty car wash systems manufacturer founded by her father William Gasser, from age 14 through her retirement in 2018, and was widely known for her generosity, philanthropy and dedication to the manufacturing industry including serving on the Board of Directors of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association.
Maurer’s ride will raise funds for The Lynne Mohr Endowment for trade scholarships at the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association Education Foundation, which funds post-secondary education for Illinois students pursuing the trades that Mohr respected and supported so much. During the 10 days earmarked for the ride, Maurer will cover a 2,000-mile, 40-day trek through Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales to raise $15,000 for the Lynne Mohr Endowment with the Foundation.
Donations supporting the endowment can be made at: https://gofund.me/f938b479 or by going to https://www.gofundme.com and searching for “Lynne Mohr.”
“The Illinois Manufacturers’ Association is pleased to continue Lynne’s legacy of supporting women and men interested in pursuing a career in the trades,” said Sarah Hartwick, Vice President of Education & Workforce Policy at the IMA and Executive Director of the IMA Education Foundation. “Her passion for manufacturing will continue to live on in the scholarship recipients who will benefit from the funds raised during this ride. We are honored to carry on her commitment.”
Maurer raised $30,000 with “The Big Sky Highway Ride Home,” the inaugural Lynne Mohr Memorial Bike Ride held in 2021. He pedaled 1,700 miles from the Brite-O-Matic headquarters in Arlington Heights, Illinois to Mohr’s vacation home in Eureka, Montana, doubling his initial fundraising target. This is the ninth of Maurer’s annual epic bicycle journeys, which have covered 20,000 miles and raised close to $100,000 for various causes.
Mohr always contributed generously to each of Maurer’s annual journeys, which have taken him through countries including Iceland, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, and inspired his podcast “Tales from a Bicycle Seat.” Raising funds for a scholarship fund in Mohr’s name is Maurer’s way of honoring the unfailing generosity she showed him and the unflagging optimism she showed even as she faced a terminal illness.
About the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association (IMA)
The Illinois Manufacturers’ Association is the only statewide association dedicated exclusively to advocating, promoting and strengthening the manufacturing sector in Illinois. The IMA is the oldest and largest state manufacturing trade association in the United States, representing nearly 4,000 companies and facilities. For more information, please visit http://ima-net.org/.
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